--- title: North Carolina Mother of 4 to Bring Home $188 Million in Lottery Winnings description: When Marie Holmes found out she won the lottery, she screamed so loud that it scared her kids. The North Carolina mom of four says... canonical: https://time.com/3710162/north-carolina-mother-of-4-to-bring-home-188-million-in-lottery-winnings/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-14T13:12:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T04:25:59.396Z article:section: U.S. og:title: North Carolina Mother of 4 to Bring Home $188 Million in Lottery Winnings og:description: When Marie Holmes found out she won the lottery, she screamed so loud that it scared her kids. The North Carolina mom of four says... og:url: https://time.com/3710162/north-carolina-mother-of-4-to-bring-home-188-million-in-lottery-winnings/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4bfeeaf2a0b78226/69877f57428a9e621dcc725c/marie-holmes-800.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: marie holmes og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: North Carolina Mother of 4 to Bring Home $188 Million in Lottery Winnings twitter:description: When Marie Holmes found out she won the lottery, she screamed so loud that it scared her kids. The North Carolina mom of four says... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4bfeeaf2a0b78226/69877f57428a9e621dcc725c/marie-holmes-800.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # North Carolina Mother of 4 to Bring Home $188 Million in Lottery Winnings by [Alexandra Zaslow / PEOPLE](/author/people/) ## Alexandra Zaslow / PEOPLE Feb 14, 2015 1:12 PM CUT  by [Alexandra Zaslow / PEOPLE](/author/people/) ## Alexandra Zaslow / PEOPLE Feb 14, 2015 1:12 PM CUT When Marie Holmes found out she won the lottery, she screamed so loud that it scared her kids. The North Carolina mom of four says she holds one of three winning tickets – each worth about $188 million – from Wednesday’s Powerball drawing, according to [WECT](http://www.wect.com/story/28094181/winning-powerball-ticket-sold-in-shallotte-nc "undefined"). Holmes, 26, quit her jobs at McDonald’s and Walmart to care for her kids, including one who has cerebral palsy. “This is all for them,” Holmes tells WECT. “All the struggle I ever went through, it was all for them.” She’s first going to use the money for tithe and then plans on setting up college funds for her kids and eventually buying a new home, she tells the news station. “Life is about to change, I’m ready for it. I’m ready to embrace the change,” says Holmes. Holmes is grateful that she’s able to bless her children with something she didn’t have, but wants them to understand that money doesn’t change you – only help. “I don’t think it’s really hit me yet,” Holmes says. “When it hits my account, that’s when it will hit me.” [_This article originally appeared on PEOPLE.com_](http://www.people.com/article/north-carolina-mom-powerball-winner "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3710162/north-carolina-mother-of-4-to-bring-home-188-million-in-lottery-winnings/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3710162/north-carolina-mother-of-4-to-bring-home-188-million-in-lottery-winnings/"},"headline":"North Carolina Mother of 4 to Bring Home $188 Million in Lottery Winnings","datePublished":"2015-02-14T13:12:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T04:25:59.396Z","description":"When Marie Holmes found out she won the lottery, she screamed so loud that it scared her kids. 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